UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Maria Leticia Ruiz DE CRUZ, Defendant-Appellant

OVERVIEW

The defendant, Maria Leticia Ruiz de Cruz, appeals her jury conviction of knowingly accepting and receiving counterfeit immigration documents as evidence of employment authorization in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant was employed by a group of medical clinics in Southern California known as “Clínica Medica Familiar” (“CMF”) from 1989 until 1993. She began working for CMF as an assistant clinic manager and was eventually promoted to the position of general administrator of the clinics. There were a total of seven clinics that defendant was responsible for supervising.

On May 8, 1991, defendant hired Dr. Aida Bernal, an anesthesiologist, to work at CMF as a medical assistant. Dr. Bernal is a citizen of Mexico who entered the United States on a tourist visa which did not authorize her to have employment in the United States. On March 31, 1993, after working for CMF for almost two years, Dr. Bernal’s employment was terminated because she was unable to present CMF with adequate documentation for work authorization. In April 1993, Dr. Bernal was rehired by defendant after she…